


It's a Not So Small World After All

by JayTDawgzone9999



Category: Dr. STONE (Anime), Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Early in Canon, Eavesdropping, Emotional Roller Coaster, Environmentalism, F/M, Feelings, Gen, One Shot Collection, Philisophical Conversations, Rating May Change, Scenarios, Snapshots, Some Humor, Stand-alone chapters, Tagged as ship but can be read as gen if you want, What-If, random scenarios, what-if fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:33:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22840291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayTDawgzone9999/pseuds/JayTDawgzone9999
Summary: A short collection of possible scenarios that may or may not have played out if Tsukasa had revived a certain reporter first.
Relationships: Hokutouzai Minami/Shishiou Tsukasa
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Though there's no concrete in-canon proof for it, I have a headcanon that Tsukasa revived Minami first because he thought having someone help him decide who to revive would be a wise decision. Since she's a reporter, I figured he probably assumed she knew a lot of people and decided it would be a good idea to enlist her help in choosing who to revive. 
> 
> Of course, canon may eventually reveal otherwise, but for now it makes enough sense to me.

After realizing there was no chance of Senku abandoning his goal of restoring the status quo of the old world, with its corrupt leaders and obsession with money, Tsukasa realized that he was well and truly alone in the world, a prospect that left him with a variety of hard to describe feelings-or at least until Senku told him the formula for the revival fluid. With just a few short words, Tsukasa's future changed dramatically, for better or for worse. 

Now, Tsukasa thought, staring at the empty world around him, he had a decision to make-one that was likely to be the most important decision he'd ever have to make. Choosing who to revive was a decision Tsukasa would never even dream of taking lightly. So important was the decision lying before him that Tsukasa delayed in making a choice for days after finishing the first batch of revival fluid, wandering the vast wilderness in complete solitude until he stumbled upon a certain statue-that of a woman with her hands outstretched, as if she had lost something of the utmost importance before-or more likely while-being petrified. 

Without even having to take a millisecond to think about it, Tsukasa recognized the petrified woman. Minami Hokutozai, one of the most well-known-and, at this point,-likely one of the most well-preserved-reporters in Japan. She had interviewed him once shortly before the petrificiation incident. Tsukasa had never been terribly fond of chatting with strangers, but to his relief, she took her job seriously-very seriously, in fact, completing the interview so efficiently that he couldn't help but admire her skill. 

After spending perhaps too long wallowing in the anxiety of indecision, Tsukasa finally took the first step in recreating the new world. There, in the middle of the wilderness, with nothing but his own thoughts for company, Tsukasa poured the first batch of revival fluid he ever made on her head, his heart racing and his jaw clenched in anticipation and worry as he hoped for the best but knew better than to not be prepared for the worst. 

Several seconds later, the small blonde woman Tsukasa had previously spoken to for a grand total of 15 minutes and 33 seconds made eye contact with him. It was slightly uncomfortable and oddly intimate, but Tsukasa managed to break it before he could develop too many weird feelings to function, quickly handing her some clothes. 

"Is something wrong?" Tsukasa asked Minami when, after he explained what happened to her and was confident that she understood what he said, looked a bit concerned, wrapping her arms around herself. 

"It's kind of cold." she replied. 

It was the middle of October after all, Tsukasa reasoned, noting with a bit of disappointment that he had nothing else to offer her for clothing, as he had accidentally left his lion pelt in a cave that was half a day's walk away. The wheels in his head turned for a few seconds until a solution hit him like an aluminum folding chair at a WWE match (not that he ever participated in the inferior sport, but whatever.) 

"This is kind of too big, but it's really warm." Minami replied when Tsukasa handed her something that was shaped a lot like his own lion pelt that was sitting in a cave because his anxiety induced emotional turmoil from earlier interfered with his short term memory just long enough for him to forget half of his own outfit while he was on his way to find the small reporter who was currently wrapped up in a lion pelt about two thirds of the size of his own. "I won't ask how you made this so fast, but thank you." 

Tsukasa nodded, waiting to make sure she didn't trip over it when she got up before the two of them headed back to the last cave Tsukasa had used as a temporary shelter. 

_______

"As much as I miss some technology-mostly heating and air conditioning-this is actually kind of cozy." Minami said as the two of them settled down in the cave after Tsukasa hunted something for dinner and lit a small fire to keep them warm. 

Tsukasa, who was busy thinking about where to get more materials to make more revival fluid, gave a short nod, throwing some more wood on the fire. The stars were just appearing in the night sky, an owl hooting in the distance and a spotted lizard crawling up a nearby tree. Tsukasa was relatively confident in his own ability to survive in the natural world and feeding and providing shelter for one other person wouldn't be too difficult, but he was anxious that if it took too long to revive other people, his plans would be less and less likely to succeed. 

After the fate his sister had to go through, Tsukasa, holding a grudge against the modern world for what had happened to her, vowed never to let the old world return, even if it meant killing people. Though he wanted nothing more than to make more revival fluid as soon as possible, Tsukasa realized he needed to rest and sleep at regular times in order to continue to function, so when he was done tending the fire, he moved over to sit next to his sole companion in the stone world, reasoning that since they were stuck with each other until he could revive more people, there was no harm in talking to her for a while. 

"Will you get mad at me if I say something corny?" Minami asked when Tsukasa sat down next to her. 

"It doesn't matter to me, if I didn't want to talk, I would have just went to sleep." 

Minami looked at him, studying his face for a second to confirm that his expression matched the calm, even tone in his voice. "Might as well go for it then." she told herself. 

"This is kind of romantic." she said, pausing to study Tsukasa's face again to make sure she hadn't thoroughly damaged his opinion of her. A few seconds later, when she felt it was safe to continue, she waited for him to glance at her before speaking again. "I mean, not like in a lovey-dovey way, it's just that this world is a fresh new start and we can revive anyone we choose-I never thought I'd have that kind of freedom but here we are. But the view doesn't hurt either." 

As soon as the last words left her mouth, however, a torrential downpour began, soaking the ground outside as the clouds dumped rain on the grass and dirt. 

"You know what, actually, just forget that last part." Minami added, moving a little closer to Tsukasa, both of them wrapped up in their own lion pelts. "And also, do we have more wood for the fire?" 

"Already on it." Tsukasa replied, grabbing a stick and tossing it in the flames.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a little cooler inside the cave than Minami would have liked, but it sure beat being outside, she thought as the thunderstorm raged on. Tsukasa had just returned from gathering what he needed to make another batch of revival fluid; hanging his lion pelt on a rack to dry while he changed into another robe. 

"What are you doing?" 

When Tsukasa spoke to her after putting on a new robe, Minami almost squeaked out of fear, hesitating to move her hands away from her face and turn around for a moment. 

"Oh, I, uh-sorry, I didn't want to invade your privacy-there's not a lot of space here after all!" She quickly apologized in a voice with a noticeable hint of nervousness, her face a little red when she saw him tighten the thin piece of fabric he used to hold his outfit together. 

Tsukasa gave her a puzzled look, responding in the same calm, even tone he usually spoke on. 

"I was wearing something under my robe, you wouldn't have seen anything. And besides, plenty of people have seen me without a shirt after all." 

Minami almost felt like smacking herself when she realized the obvious truth. Being a professional fighter, plenty of people had seen Tsukasa wearing nothing but some shorts-she had seen enough of his matches to remember. Perhaps it was because they were forced to share such a small space and be so close together, she thought, trying her best to shake all the awkward thoughts out of her head. 

At any rate, Tsukasa soon busied himself preparing another batch of revival fluid. Since he was still relatively new at making it, he warned her it might take a while to make enough to revive someone else, so in the meantime, she searched her brain for ways to be helpful, which there was no shortage of in a world where everything required far more hands-on labor than it used to. 

After preparing a small meal without any meat and finding a rock to give Tsukasa so he could turn it into a sharp weapon, the unlikely pair had a not particularly exciting dinner and later, Minami found herself doing something she never thought she'd be doing in ten billion years:

"You're sure it doesn't hurt?" 

"I'm fine, it takes a lot more to hurt me." Tsukasa replied as Minami gently ran a comb through his hair, careful not to pull on the tangles too much. 

Tsukasa's hair was unbelievably soft in spite of being exposed to the elements, maybe even softer than her own, she thought, so distracted by the way it felt on her hands as she ran the comb through it that she eventually forgot to be embarassed that she was so close to him. 

"Sometimes I'm still not sure how I got so lucky." 

Minami paused a moment when Tsukasa spoke, starting again when he continued. 

"For so long, so many people have suffered because they had no choice but to work so others could reap the fruits of their labor while they themselves had to spend their lives working just to scrape by enough to survive. Now we have the opportunity to change everything for the better. If we succeed, no one will have to suffer under an oppressive system anymore." 

Minami couldn't help but notice the slight warmth in her face as Tsukasa pushed a strand of hair away from his face, catching a glimpse of the muscles underneath his robe moving. 

"This type of luck is something I never thought anyone would ever be able to experience." Tsukasa paused again before continuing as Minami handed him one of the small stone pieces he used to keep his hair in his ponytails and he attached one of them to a section of his hair that she had just finished combing; taking time to gather his thoughts as he often did. "But now that we're here together in this new world, we can change the course of history and steer the human race towards a better path, and this is why we're the luckiest people in the world." 

Minami had to make a conscious effort not to drop the small comb in her head as she worked on the last free section of Tsukasa's hair, her arm shaking a little. 

Oh. 

Minami was no stranger to finding people attractive (and Tsukasa was without a doubt quite a lovely sight to see,) but the feeling-or, rather, feelings,-making their presence known-went beyond that for what she couldn't help but notice was the first time in her life. This new world was certainly a strange place compared to the modern era, and not without its share of hardships, but there was no questioning now that it was, in fact, truly the better place of the two.


	3. Chapter 3

Somewhere in the middle of an empty field, a huge man wearing a lion pelt and holding a rusty spear and a small woman holding a small jar stared at the statue on the ground with a mixture of concern and disbelief at the statue of a man curled up in a ball, one hand outstretched as if he had been holding something while he had been petrified. Though the expression on his face was hard to read, one could not reasonably be criticized if they had assumed he had been crying before he got petrified. 

"Well, here goes nothing." Tsukasa said after Minami handed him the bottle. 

After pouring the fluid on the rather small statue, the man, who appeared to be no larger than he looked as a statue after he rose to his feet, asked them what was going on when Tsukasa handed him some clothes, his expression clearly showing embarrassment, though it didn't seem to be because he found himself naked in the middle of an empty field with a man and a woman he had never met before. 

"3700 years ago everyone was turned into stone for some reason, and because my friend told me about your past work, I revived you just now because you have useful skills I'll need while creating a society that will be better than the one we left behind." Tsukasa replied with little in the way of significant emotion in his voice as he usually did. 

The man who had just been revived, a submarine sonar operator named Ukyo Saionji, looked around not all that unlike a nervous flightless bird being stalked by a predator, the distress in his eyes as clear as day even if he tried his best to hide it underneath a neutral facial expression, then froze, either unwilling or unable to move, sweat forming on his brow as his super strong hearing picked up something much, much worse than that one horrible re-mix of the Six Flags Amusement park theme song he heard being used as some American's ringtone once. 

"Don't worry, there's nothing to be nervous about, we're not here to hurt you, I personally vouched for your skills when I told Tsukasa about you. I'm sure you two will get along great!" Minami tried to reassure him, but to no avail, noting with distress that Ukyo's face looked like he was staring down death itself, his gaze directed nowhere near Tsukasa or Minami. 

_______

Later that night, after killing a pride of lions who had abruptly interrupted him while he was trying to explain some important information to Ukyo, Tsukasa, who was lying under a pile of blankets, staring at nothing in particular, realized something that his brain had been trying to process all day, his brow furrowing in slight aggravation when he realized that since heading back to the area that he was (very slowly) turning into a place where he and his followers could live, he had neither heard nor seen the submarine technician. It was quiet, but not the relaxing kind that would actually let him sleep, so Tsukasa realized that, against his wishes, he would have to drag himself out of his cave to find out what was going on or else he would never be able to fall asleep.

Well, no time like the present, Tsukasa begrudgingly told himself when he set out to find the newest member of his empire. Though the quiet, nervous man was nowhere to be seen, Minami, the helpful, dependable reporter who was never short on suggestions of who to revive, was busy unfolding her blanket in her tent, which he noted was now closer to his cave than it had been earlier that day, turned to look at him when he spotted her, wondering why she was still awake until he heard a distinctly miserable sound. 

"Do you need something, Tsukasa?" she asked when she noticed the slightly concerned look on his face. 

"I do." he replied, never being one to beat around the bush. "Have you seen Ukyo since we got back here?" 

"Seen, no, heard, yes." 

"Heard?" Tsukasa asked, not sure where this was going and not sure he wanted to find out even though he realized it was important. 

"Well, Ukyo has super strong hearing, which is great as long as it's not loud outside. Don't mind my tent being here, by the way, I think the owls just bother him. Or owl. I can't tell how many there are. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I also want to sleep." Minami went on, explaining everything in a matter of fact tone as if it didn't raise more questions than it answered. "I'm gonna try to make earplugs for him later actually." 

Tsukasa arched an eyebrow in confusion, wondering how the hell he hadn't noticed her tent there until he almost tripped on the pole attaching it to the ground. Well, weirder things had happened, he reasoned, at least until he heard the nocturnal bird chirp louder and they both heard the soft but distinctly miserable sound of Ukyo crying louder. Nature was impartial to humans and their needs, Tsukasa realized even as he bemoaned the fact that Ukyo wasn't likely to find relief from his problem until they could somehow find a way to make earplugs without the help of modern technology. 

Tsukasa blinked once, glancing down at Minami, who had started bunching her blanket up in a ball, looking like she was planning on holding it around her head in an attempt to block out the noise. He blinked again, trying not to clench his jaw while Ukyo continued crying. What's the worst thing that could happen? 

"Listen, don't worry about that." Tsukasa told Minami, who had placed the bunched up blanket down before she could lie down and hold the blanket around her head. "The cave is pretty big." 

Five minutes later, after the two of them were inside, Tsukasa rolled a stone over the entrance, and after he turned around to put out the light of a small torch he had lit, the unlikely pair of stone age citizens looked at each other, sharing a nod of agreement even though neither of them could see each other's faces, and promptly passed out, remaining dead to the world for the next 15 hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having super strong hearing is a great skill to have, but if you're stuck in the woods with other people and loud animals, I imagine it could occasionally lead to problems. Poor Ukyo probably had a few rough nights before he found a way to block out all the noise, but given that he's pretty smart, he probably found a solution eventually.


	4. Chapter 4

Like many days in the Empire of Might (although nobody ever really remembered who started calling it that,) everyone passed most of the time by doing a variety of things such as work, more work, hard work, and even more work. 

"Ugh, this sucks, how come that fucking wall fell down again?" Gou, one of the builders, yelled in frustration when a giant wall crashed to the ground with an ear-splitting noise. 

"No idea, let's just hope we can fix this before the next storm hits." En, another builder, told him. 

Minami, one of the few people in Tsukasa's empire who was never assigned to do hard labor or hunting, continued making her way to Tsukasa's tent. He had just put together another batch of revival fluid and asked her to make a new list of people to revive, as they had already revived everyone on the last list she had made. 

"Oh, good, you're here." Tsukasa greeted her when she arrived "Come in." 

"There are several people who would be useful additions to the guard team." Minami told him, listing off a few of the names on her list while Tsukasa listened patiently, giving her a short nod when she finished. "However, one of them is probably pretty far away from here, given that he had been on vacation during the petrification incident. There's also a chance another might not be able to be revived, since he might have been traveling at the moment-if he was on a plane or train, it's doubtful we would find him in good enough condition to revive." 

"Very well then." Tsukasa replied in his smooth, even toned voice, concealing whatever emotion he might have felt (if any.) "Out of the remaining people on the list, who would you suggest?" 

Though the decision making primarily rested with Tsukasa, when she told him about people he didn't know well or had never heard of before or during some cases where the best choice wasn't clear, he allowed her to make the choice. So far, things had worked out fairly well that way, and during all their time in the new world, there was only a single instance where someone had to be kicked out. Knowing that Tsukasa had revived her for this purpose-helping him choose who to revive, and knowing that during all their time together, he continued to have faith in her ability to make the right choice, gave her a purpose that was not only just as fulfilling as what she got from her work as a reporter in the past, but working for him, there were no strings attached. So long as you did the work, you had a place where you belonged, with none of the emotionally draining stressors of the past to deal with-no taxes, no rent, no bills-everything was so simple and straightforward. 

In that sense, Minami couldn't help but feel grateful for the new lease on life she had been given-this was a completely fresh start, and the prospect of messing it up was unthinkable. To that end, as much as she tried, sometimes her nerves got the better of her, leaving her unable to avoid stalling in her decision making.

"Well, it's hard to say." she began, clutching the small scrap of leather in her hand that she had crudely carved a few names on. "There is someone who should be fairly close by-less than a day's walk, most likely, but he's..." 

Minami wasn't really sure how to choose her words, not wanting to risk offending Tsukasa or sounding too unconfident. "Well, he's a policeman and he's a fairly competent fighter, but... he's got a very...offbeat personality." 

Tsukasa sighed, rubbing his temples for a moment, though the expression on his face didn't change when he looked at Minami again. "Well, beggars can't be choosers. If he's a policeman, there's also the chance he might not agree with the vision I have in mind for the world. I'm sure you know better than most how many of them are." 

"Unfortunately yes. However, well, despite-no, maybe I should say because-well, he never really cared about his job. He was just in it for the money. He's had some...uh, mishaps, you might say, during his career, and he's exactly the kind of person who would jump at the chance to start over." 

Tsukasa regarded her with the same calm, neutral expression on his face as he rose up, towering over her in the small tent. "You're sure that he's not someone who supported the old way of doing things, then." he replied, his voice revealing almost nothing in the way of emotion, speaking in a nearly monotone way as he usually did. 

"Not at all. I hated the way things were back then too much to ever suggest bringing anyone like that back." she reassured him. "He's not particularly bright, though, so I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to choose him." 

"It's fine." Tsukasa said after a moment of silence to gather his thoughts. "Not everyone has to be a genius. If he can fight and he doesn't support the old system, that will be more than sufficient." 

He strode to the edge of his tent where Minami was standing, the corners of his mouth turning upwards just barely enough to notice. "If you would be so kind as to accompany me to his location, we can revive him today." 

"Of course." Minami still couldn't help but feel her face heat up a bit when Tsukasa gave her a small smile, but reminded herself to shake it off, at least for now. 

Work was work, after all, whatever girlish flights of fancy flitting through her head could wait until the day's work was done. 

____

"The landscape's changed a lot in the last three thousand years." Tsukasa started. "Still, this is rather inconvenient." 

When Tsukasa and Minami reached the location where Yo was, what they found was rather perplexing. The tunnel, which had been blocked by a fallen tree, was filled with rocks and bones, and though Tsukasa realized Minami would have a hard time finding Yo inside it, the space between the tree and the ground was far too short for Tsukasa to fit under. 

"When I come back out, follow me inside." Tsukasa instructed Minami when he approached the tunnel. Once he walked inside, he cut down the tree with a single slash of a stone knife, both of them watching silently as the tree split apart. 

Behind the tree was a large boulder, but since the space between the boulder and the side of the tunnel was large enough for five people to fit through, he decided not to worry about it. Once Minami saw him again, she walked over to meet him, unaware of exactly what sort of mentally scarring things she would see inside the tunnel. 

"Oh, I think he's behind the boulder!" Minami, who was holding the revival fluid since Tsukasa had a knife and a large torch in his hand, told Tsukasa when she caught a glimpse of something shaped like a shoe. 

"If you see him, go ahead and-" Tsukasa, who was standing a few feet behind her with his knife in his hand in case the tunnel hid more dangerous surprises than a fallen tree and a boulder, found his words quickly interrupted when he heard a scream followed by a scream that was only slightly less feminine than the first scream. 

"Why is your dick out?!" 

Tsukasa ran at top speed for all of 10 seconds, hoping that the worst case scenario he was envisioning wasn't happening, prepared to kill someone if need be; stepping in front of Minami when he saw the former cop crumpled on the ground, holding his dick with both hands, tears streaming down his face.

"Uh, sorry, he-I thought-" 

Tsukasa, deciding that taking the efficient route in this scenario would be the quickest way to solve things, pet her hair, letting his hand rest there for a moment and making direct eye contact with her. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you, you didn't do anything wrong." he told her, petting her hair a little more before turning to Yo, who was still moaning in pain as he held his dick. 

"You have 15 seconds-15, 14,13-"

"I was taking a piss on a wall when I was petrified, I swear!" Yo moaned in a distraught voice. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize until after-I'm sorry, I didn't meant to kick him there-" Minami stammered, still flustered from receiving a small gesture of physical affection from Tsukasa. 

Tsukasa was never the type to take advantage of women for immoral purposes, but if showing a bit of tender affection helped defuse an awkward situation, then so be it, he told himself while he gave the reporter he had grown oddly fond of a small hug, pulling her close to him with one arm. 

"There's nothing to worry about, he'll be alright." he replied, ignoring the blush staining her cheeks while he turned to Yo.

"Lucky for you, you get a chance at a fresh new start in life, so you're going to follow us back to camp." Tsukasa told Yo, grimacing when he got a glimpse of Yo's dick as he fumbled to catch a small piece of cloth Tsukasa threw at him to tie around his waist. 

"Ugh, my dick....she's got one hell of a kick." 

"Walk it off." 

An hour and a half later, the empire of might gained their newest member, for better or for worse, and several hours later, Minami, lying in her tent and waiting for sleep to pay her a visit, had a most terrifying series of thoughts. Some of them even involved love. 

Tsukasa....he's always full of surprises, isn't he? Minami told herself while she clutched her blanket near her face with both hands, her cheeks heating up when she recalled how he held her so gently in his strong arms, how warm his skin was, the hardness of his muscles and the steady, soothing sound of his heartbeat. It was going to be a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

It was about as cool as a typical morning in late summer or early fall, which was odd, considering it was, most likely, sometime in November. Tsukasa was busy as he usually was more often than not as Minami realized all too well, sometimes finding herself with a significant chunk of free time as a result. As someone whose innate curiosity about others influenced her life and the choices she made, including her former career, Minami often found finding a quiet little place to hide and eavesdrop on other people a rather entertaining way to pass those moments when Tsukasa didn't need her for anything. 

"You know, remember when Daichi got drunk and tried to wrestle that billionaire airline CEO's pet tiger at his penthouse? That was nuts." Hiroshi, a former MMA fighter Tsukasa had revived, asked one of his friends, a fellow fighter, while they were laying down the foundation for a storehouse. 

"Yeah, I wonder what the hell happened to that motherfucker, he was a real piece of work. Can't say I miss him honestly." Kenzo, the other fighter, replied, picking up a huge plank of wood. 

Minami knew all about the not-so-carefully kept secrets of the professional fighting world, especially the fact that it wasn't as far removed from the underground fighting world as it liked to pretend it was, but none of that was what caught her interest at the moment. With the two former fighters was a new addition to the Empire of Might, a young man named Taiju, who had not been revived by Tsukasa. 

Taiju was a hardworking, capable worker who never refused a single task, never less than enthusiastic about the prospect of using his seemingly endless stamina from sunup to sundown for whatever tasks he was assigned, keeping his mouth shut when the other guys rambled on about whatever the hell passed through their minds. He was almost too quiet sometimes, only using his booming voice to assure whoever was supervising him that he would complete whatever work he needed to do and keeping his lips sealed the rest of the time. 

After several days of careful observation, Minami concluded that the otherwise boisterous, optimistic young man was hiding a painful secret, or maybe just an awkward one. A sad one seemed a likely possibility as well. His eyes seemed too honest for him to be hiding anything truly dangerous, if nothing else. Either way, it was something she knew she'd never get an answer to, and thus didn't bother to waste any time asking any questions, simply observing whatever caught her attention and letting the rest fall where it may. After a while, the three men were replaced by three other men, as their supervisor deemed it wise to ensure everyone who did the hard labor got a fair shake at working on different things so as not to succumb to boredom or mental fatigue, and Minami quietly slipped out of their line of sight with none of them being any the wiser. 

Having far too small a build to be useful for hard labor, hunting, or security, Minami found herself easily able to sneak off to wherever she wanted without anyone finding out, an unusual little perk that had a variety of benefits. All she had to do was find a little piece of space to curl up in, lie on, or hide behind, and she could listen to everyone's conversations and discover all their secrets without them knowing a thing. When any particularly useful information revealed itself, Minami quietly slipped away to Tsukasa's tent and told him all about it, satisfying whatever curiosity he had whenever he required it. 

This day, however, was more unusual than the rest, at least when Minami found the boisterous, simple-minded Taiju with the quiet brunette he spent most of his free time with, Yuzuriha, who was hardly any bigger than Minami herself was. Yuzuriha, she had been told by Tsukasa, was responsible for making all the clothes and other fabric materials everyone needed, and as such, was one of the few others who was never assigned to hard labor. Minami couldn't help but smile to herself when she saw the pair hug each other, figuring out the moment she first saw them that they were a couple. However, besides the day they first showed up, Minami had never seen them together right by their own tent. 

"Those two are a cute couple." she thought, planning on slipping off quietly again when Taiju planted a kiss on Yuzuriha's forehead before running off to go back to work, but before she could turn around and leave, the sound of soft, heart-wrenching sobs caught her attention. 

"I can't believe myself. Acting so selfish all this time." Yuzuriha cried to herself, pulling her knees to her chest. 

Minami didn't dare make a sound as the younger woman let out another quiet sob, burying her face in her hands. Whatever was bothering her had clearly been weighing on her mind for a while, judging by the utterly pained, desperate sound of her sobs. Though she couldn't even begin to guess what the exact issue bothering the other woman was, Minami remembered crying like that herself a few times in the past, sometimes after she came home from a day where she had to report on a particularly unpleasant story. 

"He works so hard, he never complains and he's always so full of hope-" Yuzuriha's voice cracked as she sobbed again before continuing. "And what do I do? I worry like an idiot and burden him with my problems-I'm such an idiot, how can I ever forgive myself?" 

As much as part of her wanted to ask her what was wrong and offer a shoulder to cry on in an attempt to comfort the other woman, Minami's instincts told her it was better to leave this particular incident alone, slipping off yet again before anyone could even figure out she had been there. 

As she found herself doing more than she cared to admit, Minami made her way to Tsukasa's tent, hoping to find the man who saved her life in more ways than one (and on multiple occasions, no less, as she recalled some of the problems they ran into in the earlier days of their time in the stone world,) finding that just being around him was oddly comforting, perhaps even more than that. It certainly didn't hurt that he was quite the feast for her eyes as well.

Her heart pounded in her chest, even after all this time, when she saw him seated on his stone chair. With a strand of hair covering his face, as it sometimes did, and fiddling with a knife in one of his hands, Tsukasa nodded as Gen, the flamboyant mentalist he had revived some time ago, told him something she couldn't quite make out from her distance from the pair of men who didn't resemble each other in the slightest, physically or otherwise. 

"Is that all you wanted to tell me, then?" Tsukasa asked Gen. 

Gen's smile was as convincing as anything, but Tsukasa knew better than anyone what fear smelled like, and his instincts were better than most at telling him the truth. Yelling or threatening Gen would do no good, however, so Tsukasa resolved to let it be for now, choosing to confront the mentalist later.

"That's all, am I free to leave now?" 

"You are."

When Gen ran off, Minami started wondering if maybe it was a bad time to talk to Tsukasa. She could always come back later, she reasoned as she made her way to leave.

"You don't have to hide, you know." Tsukasa said, his voice as calm and even as always. 

Then again, she should have known better, she scolded herself. In the huge, sprawling empire he built, Minami could hide from anyone else, but Tsukasa's vision was unmatched by anyone else, and as such, hiding from him was useless. 

"Oh, sorry, I thought you were busy. I saw you with Gen and-" 

"I'm not busy anymore. And besides, you're usually eavesdropping anyways. That's probably why you always seem to be the first person to find out everyone's most interesting secrets, after all." Tsukasa continued, getting up to step outside his tent. 

Even after all this time, Minami couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by how Tsukasa towered over everyone else. Strange, she thought, how someone's presence could feel so significant, she thought when he closed all but about a foot or two of the distance between them. It really was something, she thought as she wiped her sweaty palms on her dress. 

"Well, there's always a way to amuse yourself if you use your imagination, after all." she admitted, swallowing hard when he glanced up and down her body, his neutral expression revealing almost nothing about what he felt about what he saw. "But anyways, it wasn't really anything important. There just wasn't anything really interesting going on lately, just more of the same as usual. I thought maybe you might want to know, though, that's all." she told him, finding that her voice was a bit too shaky. Making direct eye contact with him, which she had done by accident when she opened her mouth to speak, was always a bit emotionally overwhelming. 

"Anything can be important depending on the circumstances." Tsukasa replied. "And even if it isn't, it just so happens I have enough time to listen to some less important things at the moment. We can discuss it inside if you'd like." he offered, gently brushing a strand of hair away from her face. 

Her heart skipped a beat or several (probably several,) even after he moved his hand away. The sun was due to set soon, but if she didn't make it back to her tent by nightfall, that would hardly be the worst thing that could happen to her, Minami told herself. 

"Really?" Once her heart stopped pounding quite as hard, she found that she remembered what she wanted to tell him after all, following him into the tent. "Well, actually, something interesting happened yesterday I think you'll find pretty entertaining!" 

"Oh? I'd like to hear about it then." Tsukasa, always so calm, had his eyes fixed on her and his hand resting on the small of her back as they walked inside, the odd pair disappearing from the sight of any watchful eyes as Tsukasa shut the flap of the tent behind them.


End file.
